reached into his pants pocket and took out a miniature steel multitool—twelve components for cutting, turning, gripping, holding, twisting, measuring, opening, pulling, slicing, filing, cleaning, and scraping. For a few minutes he opened and closed this or that tool, testing the sharpness of one, the grasp of another.
“This is something I always keep with me,” he was saying. “Ever since I got tied up that time. In addition to tweezers and a pager, it also has a lock pick. See that? But right now I’m looking for a weapon.”
“Aggressive,” said Davette. She was beginning to sound tired and cranky.
“My cousin gave it to me. His stepdad’s in the CIA. And look what I have here, your twin companion.” He threw her an identical tool and Davette looked at it with the expression of someone who had never seen a toilet before—my what goes where ?
“In case she gets all feisty again. See?”
He pulled out a knife blade the size of a thumbnail.
“Well that will be useful for picking your teeth,” Davette snapped. She turned the gizmo around in her hands. “What’s the monitor for?”
“That’s the coolest part; it has a built-in GPS thing. A global positioning system. Like, you know, what they have in rental cars? The map things that show you where you are all the time? And here, you can use this button to signal me, and my tool will act as a receiver. You don’t even have to know where you are, the satellites will pick up your location and signal my map. You can be anywhere on earth and I’ll find you.”
“I can be anywhere?”
“Mine has parallel multichannels,” Dave said. He put the tool back in his pocket. “I have no idea what that means.”
“So have you tried it?”
“Um, I still don’t get the whole longitude thing,” he admitted.
They decided to give Nicola some water before they left. Dave untaped her mouth then held the cup to her lips. The cup was cold, and the water tasted slightly metallic. Nicola swallowed, then said, “You can’t be in a building.”
“What?”
“If you’re using a GPS tool. You can’t be in a building, in a cave, or underwater. You said you can be anywhere on earth, but that’s not true. The receivers need clear air space to receive the satellite signal.”
“God, where’s the duct tape?” Dave said.
“The signals travel on a super low frequency,” Nicola continued. She was a little surprised at herself. Maybe this was the effect of being gagged so long? She was irritated and wanted to irritate back.
“They can go through clouds or glass or plastic, but nothing solid. Did you know that radio waves travel at the speed of light? I learned that just the other day.”
“Oh shit,” Dave said.
Davette looked up. “What now?”
“There’s only, like, this much tape left.”
Unreal. Could they do anything right?
“Where’s the tape you just took off?” Davette asked.
“Squished.”
They decided not to worry about taping her mouth. Together they took Nicola down to the van, but this time Davette got into the driver’s seat.
“Is there any more of that chocolate?” Nicola asked.
“Our plan is to pretend you’re still gagged,” Dave said.
“Because I did pay for it, you know.”
Davette started up the van and immediately began quarreling with Dave about the best way to go.
“You know the new stadium? It’s like a block away,” he said.
Nicola guessed they were taking her to India Basin. For a while Davette drove south alongside the CalTrain tracks, but she kept having to back up when the roads ended in water. She was young, Nicola thought; she should not be driving, she should be lying in bed staring at a rock poster taped to the ceiling. It was hard to understand how the world could be so heavily populated by creatures such as the Daves with their grand ideas and their total lack of sense. Scooter, her ex-husband, included. And Guy. And half of her clients, middle-aged guys with lofty technical agendas who
“This is something I always keep with me,” he was saying. “Ever since I got tied up that time. In addition to tweezers and a pager, it also has a lock pick. See that? But right now I’m looking for a weapon.”
“Aggressive,” said Davette. She was beginning to sound tired and cranky.
“My cousin gave it to me. His stepdad’s in the CIA. And look what I have here, your twin companion.” He threw her an identical tool and Davette looked at it with the expression of someone who had never seen a toilet before—my what goes where ?
“In case she gets all feisty again. See?”
He pulled out a knife blade the size of a thumbnail.
“Well that will be useful for picking your teeth,” Davette snapped. She turned the gizmo around in her hands. “What’s the monitor for?”
“That’s the coolest part; it has a built-in GPS thing. A global positioning system. Like, you know, what they have in rental cars? The map things that show you where you are all the time? And here, you can use this button to signal me, and my tool will act as a receiver. You don’t even have to know where you are, the satellites will pick up your location and signal my map. You can be anywhere on earth and I’ll find you.”
“I can be anywhere?”
“Mine has parallel multichannels,” Dave said. He put the tool back in his pocket. “I have no idea what that means.”
“So have you tried it?”
“Um, I still don’t get the whole longitude thing,” he admitted.
They decided to give Nicola some water before they left. Dave untaped her mouth then held the cup to her lips. The cup was cold, and the water tasted slightly metallic. Nicola swallowed, then said, “You can’t be in a building.”
“What?”
“If you’re using a GPS tool. You can’t be in a building, in a cave, or underwater. You said you can be anywhere on earth, but that’s not true. The receivers need clear air space to receive the satellite signal.”
“God, where’s the duct tape?” Dave said.
“The signals travel on a super low frequency,” Nicola continued. She was a little surprised at herself. Maybe this was the effect of being gagged so long? She was irritated and wanted to irritate back.
“They can go through clouds or glass or plastic, but nothing solid. Did you know that radio waves travel at the speed of light? I learned that just the other day.”
“Oh shit,” Dave said.
Davette looked up. “What now?”
“There’s only, like, this much tape left.”
Unreal. Could they do anything right?
“Where’s the tape you just took off?” Davette asked.
“Squished.”
They decided not to worry about taping her mouth. Together they took Nicola down to the van, but this time Davette got into the driver’s seat.
“Is there any more of that chocolate?” Nicola asked.
“Our plan is to pretend you’re still gagged,” Dave said.
“Because I did pay for it, you know.”
Davette started up the van and immediately began quarreling with Dave about the best way to go.
“You know the new stadium? It’s like a block away,” he said.
Nicola guessed they were taking her to India Basin. For a while Davette drove south alongside the CalTrain tracks, but she kept having to back up when the roads ended in water. She was young, Nicola thought; she should not be driving, she should be lying in bed staring at a rock poster taped to the ceiling. It was hard to understand how the world could be so heavily populated by creatures such as the Daves with their grand ideas and their total lack of sense. Scooter, her ex-husband, included. And Guy. And half of her clients, middle-aged guys with lofty technical agendas who
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